Internationally-accredited rehab centre opens in Phuket

PHUKET: After a year-long soft-opening, Asia’s first internationally-accredited rehabilitation and medical detox centre, Bhavana Phuket, has been officially launched .

Monday 15 October 2012, 10:01AM

Bhavana Phuket, situated in the Cape Panwa area, is the only rehab and detox centre in Asia to receive an official Thai Government hospital license.

Bhavana Founder and CEO, Dr Kai Goh, who has worked at The Priory in London and Singapore-based Promises said the unusual length of the soft opening was to ensure that the facility was operating at a world class level.

“Bhavana came about from my observations that addictions to drugs, alcohol, gambling and sex were increasing on a vast scale throughout South East Asia,” Dr Goh said. “Addiction isn’t just the popular image of a strung-out heroin user or burned-out cocaine abuser.

“In today’s stressed and hectic Asian cities, alcohol is one of the biggest problems. We are also in the grip of an epidemic of sleeping pill addiction. It’s a massive problem in Asia, they are perhaps prescribed too freely, and it’s a tough addiction to overcome.”

Bhavana’s treatment programmes have been designed and created by addiction specialists and it was for reasons like these among others that Dr Koh believes Bhavana Phuket is in a class of its own, not only in Asia, but the rest of the world.

Dr Goh said, “There are several other facilities around Thailand and the region claiming to offer qualified rehab and detox services. What you will find in some of these places is well-intentioned ex-addicts counselling the patients.

“Bhavana, on the other hand, is staffed by Masters-level Hazelden-trained multi-lingual therapists who have practised at many of the world’s top institutions. Our counsellors have years of experience at the very highest level both in a local and international context with a wide range of patients from every demographic.

Dr Goh said Bhavana was owned and operated by international addiction treatment professionals and offers programs to treat all levels and kinds of substance abuse and compulsive behaviours – including alcohol, drug, gambling, sex and internet addiction.

It is believed that the ‘serene and private beach front estate’ in southern Phuket will be the ideal location for each individual patients’ journey back to health and well-being.

Dr Goh said, “You can get back to health by strolling on the beach at sunrise, walking the winding paths through tropical gardens of bamboo and palm trees, relaxing at poolside, or gazing across the bay at Phuket’s Big Buddha shrine.”

Dr Goh said Bhavana in Sanskrit meant ‘spiritual cultivation’, while in Thai it denoted prayers for a new and better life. “Recovery is a journey,” he said. “Now, that journey can be made safely, on a paradise island at a very private and beautiful location.”